The dark world of paedophilia exposed

Melinda Tankard Reist

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the recent sentencing of Daniel Morcombe’s killer ’ along with the imprisonment last week of former television star Robert Hughes after being found guilty of nine sex offense against three underage girls, have all heightened public attention on the scourge of child sexual assault.

There is deep distress in the community that defenceless children are used in such evil ways. But the broader culture that encourages the abuse of the children goes unaddressed. The same loathing that is directed toward child sexual abuse has not been extended to the mainstream promotion of paedophilic fantasies for profit.

Predators are emboldened and more networked through thriving internet child porn rings. But there are other drivers of the trade in children’s bodies. Products in local newsagencies, milk bars and retail outlets and online, normalise and eroticise child sexual assault.

Bookworld, Barnes & Noble and Amazon have been exposed for selling hundreds of rape and incest titles in categories emphasising terms like "taboo," "forced," and "reluctant." Titles included Daddy takes my Virginity, Daddy forces himself on little teen, Daddy’s Sex Slave and I tempted Daddy.

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On the same site as Bookworld’s Father and Daughter Erotica section, was Repair Your Life: A Program for Recovery from Incest and Childhood Abuse. There are currently 30 titles listed under ‘‘Daddy Fantasy’’.

Amazon was forced to withdraw The Paedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Childlover’s Code of Conduct, written by a paedophile. But other pro-paedophile titles continue to be promoted.

Novels with incest themes typically eroticise sex between an older male relative, a father or sometimes uncle, and a young, virginal daughter or niece. We know that the prevalence of abuse by men known to victims, such as family members, is particularly high. So why allow publications that normalise it?

Eroticising crimes against children through incest-themed fiction suggests that sexual contact with children is acceptable. Allowing products that depict children as keen for sex makes them more vulnerable to abuse and violence.

While police were busting child pornography rings in various countries, including Australia, a child-size sex doll was being sold through a Chinese e-commerce site. The doll was made to look like a little Asian girl and described in English as a "beautiful young girl sex doll for men," and "highly flexible" with "three holes available for use."

The Lolita-ization of the culture continues with Australian sex stores selling disembodied "fresh" and "innocent" replica vaginas, with "intact hymen" in order to aid men in fantasising about sex with underage girls.

Major retail chains sell sexualised clothing for children, including padded bras. Advertising features children posed and styled in adult ways, inviting us to see them as much older than they really are.

Meanwhile, "barely legal"-style magazines promote "sweeties" and "cuties" in pigtails and wearing braces wanting to be violated - "I’m ready for my first time mister," says one young girl holding a hand puppet in a popular title found in places like 7-Eleven and McDonalds/Fuelzone.

During Senate Estimates in February 2010, Donald McDonald, the Director of the Classification Board, said that he had issued 1,000 "call-in" notices for porn distributors to remove magazines and films containing prohibited content - including promoting sex with little girls and rape and incest themes. Asked how many had responded, he replied, "None." Subsequent Classification Board Annual Reports give further examples of call-in notices being ignored.

In Money Shot: A Journey into Porn and Censorship, Jeff Sparrow quotes porn sellers admitting they don’t bother having magazines and DVD’s classified because fines were minimal and chances of being caught small.

Julie Gale of Kids Free 2B Kids made submissions to two inquiries, in 2009 and 2013, documenting illegal magazine content she found in corner stores and petrol stations. These included advertising with rape and incest themes and girls depicted as underage in sexual poses.

The Attorney General’s Compliance and Enforcement working party secretariat refused to distribute the submission to the Attorney Generals, even though Gale had pixilated the images, because it didn’t want to be accused of distributing child pornography.

The Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee likewise refused to publish her submission as part of its inquiry, even though it too contained material from mainstream outlets.

Federal and State Governments seem unwilling to stand up to a porn industry worth more than US$100 billion annually. The Coalition is even split over an e-safety Commissioner to keep children safe online.

We are destroying the cultural norms that once taught male adults that children’s bodies are off-limits to sexual use. We cannot fully address child sexual abuse until we reject a culture that glamorises it.